Eastern Oregon’s Sage DeLong pursues Rocky Mountain’s DeNiro Killian Jr. in a game Oct. 9, 2021, at Community Stadium, La Grande. DeLong earned Frontier Conference co-defensive player of the year alongside teammate Chase Van Wyck.

LA GRANDE — The Eastern Oregon University football team was well represented on the All-Frontier Conference nominations this year, with eight Mountaineers earning recognition.

Leading the way for Eastern was not one but two Mountaineers being named Defensive Player of the Year. Senior defensive ends Chase Van Wyck and Sage DeLong were picked as co-winners of Player of the Year on the defensive side of the ball. This is the second straight season that Van Wyck has been selected Defensive Player of the Year.

The menacing duo gave opposing offensive lines headaches all season, combining for 34 tackles for loss. DeLong finished the season with 52 tackles, 10 sacks and 17.5 tackles for loss. Van Wyck tallied 54 tackles, 16.5 tackles for loss and seven sacks.

This is Van Wyck’s third first-team all-conference nomination as he ends his career at Eastern with the program’s third highest mark in career tackles for loss and sacks. The nomination also is the third first-team selection of DeLong’s career.

Redshirt-senior RJ Thorne earned first-team honors at the offensive lineman position, his first time being named all-conference. Redshirt-junior linebacker Solo Taylor joined Van Wyck and DeLong on the defensive first team, marking his second time on the first-team. Taylor recorded 78 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss and two sacks. He also was active in the secondary, tallying one interception and three pass breakups.

Redshirt-senior wide receiver Isaiah Thomas earned first-team punt returner. This season marked the second time Thomas has been named all-conference on special teams and his fourth overall selection. He tallied 193 yards off 16 punts and added a team-high 555 receiving yards this season.

Redshirt-sophomore linebacker Hayden Brandon and redshirt-senior defensive back Brennan Pope both were named to the second-team on defense. Brandon led the team with 82 tackles and added 7.5 tackles for loss. Pope recorded a team-high eight pass breakups and tallied one interception on the year. He added 34 tackles to Eastern’s defensive effort.

Redshirt-junior kicker Zachary Cahill was named second-team all-conference at the kicker position. Cahill went 12-18 on field goals this year and converted all 18 of his extra points. His longest kick of the season was a 48-yarder against MSU-Northern on Oct. 23.

The Mountaineers finished the season 4-6 overall, placing sixth in the Frontier Conference.